The first step to getting over any disease is admitting you have it. People who are suicidal/depressed tend to hide their condition. This is wrong.
Everyone here, and all of my friends and family know I'm a depressive.
It's nothing to be ashamed of. I don't like being this way. But I am anyway. This is not because I am emo or an attention whore (though I have admittedly used my condition in the past to gain attention, both online and irl) but because I have a condition.
As I've gotten older, I've gotten better at fighting back against my depression. The trick is to catch it early. When I feel it start, I take measures to combat it, such as calling up friends to do something, playing a fun game, writing out my feelings (this works wonders for me) or just simply meditating for a while.
This does not mean I am always successful. Sometimes despite my best efforts I get depressed, and yeah, it's usually caused by something bad happening to me in my life. This can range from a pet dying to something as trivial as someone making a cutting remark online. At this point, I tend to get the fuck away from people, including here. Staying around people when I am depressed only leads to bad things, in my experience.
(Note that I don't mean Cyan or whoever should isolate themselves when depressed. I just find that it works for me. Or rather, not isolating myself doesn't help and only irritates or depresses my friends.)
After enough time passes, I stop feeling sorry for myself, remember that my life is pretty good, and get back to living.
tl;dr: Depression is a fact of life. Instead of wallowing in it, take steps to fight it, whatever those steps may be. You'll probably never be free of it entirely (fucked up childhood + high levels of empathy + intelligence = enjoy being miserable) but if properly addressed depression can be managed. Don't take this the wrong way, any depressives who might be reading this: I'm not saying SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, just trying to offer constructive advice that has worked for me.
(fucked up childhood + high levels of empathy + intelligence = enjoy being miserable)
Preempting the Cyan Prime joke.